Ryan Blaney says he stayed off Twitter so he didn't have to deal with all the abuse from Junior Nation.

FONTANA, Calif. — Aside from getting crucified on social media, Ryan Blaney is none the worse for his on-track spat with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Phoenix.

After wearing out his tires trying to pass Earnhardt on the one-mile track, Blaney had some unkind words for NASCAR’s most popular driver on his team radio. Twitter exploded with the invective, and Blaney later apologized on the social media platform.

But the damage was done. You don’t call out Earnhardt and not expect abuse in return.

“I didn’t go on Twitter for a long time,” Blaney said Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “I got on it Sunday after the race and was hated widely by a lot of fans, and I’ve never had that before. That was something a little bit different, so I didn’t get on social media for a few days.

“None of that really bothers me — what other people think — as long as Dale and I are good, and we are. The social media side is good for the sport. It’s really good for what we do and giving fans insight of what our daily lives are throughout the race, but sometimes it’s a burden, and that just happened to be one of them, but you get over it and people forget.”

Many drivers, after all, are close friends off the track.

“We talked about it after the race,” Blaney said. “We’re good friends and neighbors. He owns the land that I live on, so, strategically, that may not have been the best thing for me to do that to him last week, but we’re good.

FONTANA, Calif. — Aside from getting crucified on social media, Ryan Blaney is none the worse for his on-track spat with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Phoenix.

After wearing out his tires trying to pass Earnhardt on the one-mile track, Blaney had some unkind words for NASCAR’s most popular driver on his team radio. Twitter exploded with the invective, and Blaney later apologized on the social media platform.

But the damage was done. You don’t call out Earnhardt and not expect abuse in return.

“I didn’t go on Twitter for a long time,” Blaney said Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “I got on it Sunday after the race and was hated widely by a lot of fans, and I’ve never had that before. That was something a little bit different, so I didn’t get on social media for a few days.

“None of that really bothers me — what other people think — as long as Dale and I are good, and we are. The social media side is good for the sport. It’s really good for what we do and giving fans insight of what our daily lives are throughout the race, but sometimes it’s a burden, and that just happened to be one of them, but you get over it and people forget.”

Many drivers, after all, are close friends off the track.

“We talked about it after the race,” Blaney said. “We’re good friends and neighbors. He owns the land that I live on, so, strategically, that may not have been the best thing for me to do that to him last week, but we’re good.